NCJ Number
88801
Journal
Child Welfare Volume: 62 Issue: 2 Dated: (March/April 1983) Pages: 99-108
Date Published
1983
Length
10 pages
Annotation
In a survey of 267 West Virginia residents enrolled in 5 State colleges and universities, 117 of those surveyed had 1 or more sexual experiences prior to age 12; females were far more at sexual risk than males.
Abstract
Respondents had an average age of 26 for females and 22 for males. Sexual experience rates for West Virginia children showed little difference among geographical locations, although city-reared females appeared to be more vulnerable than those from rural areas. Not one case among the 9.2 percent of abused females in rural areas involved incest, contradicting the stereotype of the incestogenic Appalachian family. Females reported almost twice as many acts as males, and offenders were predominantly male. Over a third of the females found the experience negative, while some 31 percent of the males found the experience positive. For both sexes, the largest number of sexual experiences was with nonrelatives, and sexual intercourse was the least used form of sexual expression. Males were more vulnerable to sexual activities with other males in the age range of 16 to 19, whereas females were likely to be approached by offenders aged 16 to 19 or over 26. The article discusses intervention and management approaches, lists symptoms of possible sexual abuse, and includes 25 references.